A power conversion circuit (e.g., a switching regulator) may accept a Direct Current (DC) voltage source at one level and output a desired DC voltage at another level. The switching regulator may include one or more switches, which can be implemented by Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor-Field-Effect-Transistors (MOSFETs), and the like. The switches may alternate between connecting and disconnecting the voltage source to subcircuits that drive an output. Typically, a duty cycle of the switching determines the output voltage level. The switching is generally controlled by a Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) circuit.
Switching regulators are useful in high current applications, such as high power microprocessors, notebook computers, desktop computers, network servers, large memory arrays, workstations and DC high power distribution systems, and the like. The switching regulator can have multiple parallel channels to process one or more voltage sources to drive a common output. A transient response of typical switching regulators may not be satisfactory in applications with demands for high slew rates of output currents. The switching regulator may regulate the output voltage employing a relatively slow feedback circuit which continuously adjusts a control parameter, such as a duty cycle. The duty cycle may be adjusted in accordance with differences between the output voltage of the switching regulator and a nominal value provided by a reference voltage.
Although the switching regulator can theoretically achieve faster transient responses by operating at higher frequencies, practical switching devices limit the operating frequencies of the switching regulator. For instance, the inherent impedance of the switching devices reduces efficiency at high switching frequencies.
Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.